Our Board of Directors has announced that Ronald G. “Ron” Helton, PE was elected Chairman of the Board of Directors and Gregory H. “Greg” Hurst, PE has been elected President.
Ron Helton, who served as the firm’s President for over 21 years, was also named Senior Vice-President at the firm’s Board of Directors meeting on June 12, 2018. He succeeds James C. “Jim” Thompson as Chairman. Ron joined Thompson & Litton in 1979 and is a 1982 Civil Engineering graduate of Virginia Tech.
Greg Hurst, formerly the company’s Executive Vice President, was elected President at the same meeting. Greg will be responsible for the firm’s engineering, architectural and land surveying practices to ensure successful operations, considering the interests of our clients and employees. Greg is based in our Radford office and joined T&L in 1995. He is a 1991 Civil Engineering graduate of Virginia Military Institute and received a Masters Degree in Environmental Engineering from Virginia Tech in 1994.
Jim Thompson will remain with T&L as a Board member and continues as our Director of Strategic Initiatives. Jim has been with T&L since 1984 serving in several capacities including Project Manager, Vice President of Project Management, and Vice President of Marketing. He was the Chairman of the Board from 2005 until now. Since it’s opening in 1984, he has managed our Tazewell office.
“Having planned for this transition for over a decade, I have the upmost confidence in Greg, and in all of the leadership around him at T&L, and in all of the employees of T&L. I am proud of our great group of employees and their client and project focus”, said Ron Hel-ton.
Greg Hurst, new President of T&L, stated that “I humbly step into the role of President, and I am honored with the opportunity to serve the Board of Directors and the employees – our greatest asset. I look forward to the growth and successes that are in our future and will strive to maintain the excellent client service that we have provided for the past 62 years”.
Our firm is an award winning engineering, architectural, and land surveying firm founded in Wise, VA in 1956 where our headquarters remains. We are a 100% ESOP Company and have been listed on the 2017 Virginia Business Magazine List of Leaders as the 18th largest architectural and engineering firm in the Commonwealth. We provided comprehensive civil, structural, mechanical, electrical and plumbing engineering; surveying; architectural and Design Build services through offices located in Wise, Radford, Tazewell, and Chilhowie, Virginia; and Bristol and Mosheim, Tennessee. We currently have a staff of 92 employees.
Following a devastating fire to a local lumber supply business located in Wise, Virginia on New Year’s Day 2018, Thompson & Litton performed a structural evaluation of the existing building to determine if existing walls and framing could be utilized during restoration of the building. Constructed in the 1930s, the two-story building was home to Wise Lumber & Supply Co. which has been in operation for 68 years, according to The Coalfield Progress newspaper. Picture provided by Melinda Mullins (www.thecoalfieldprogress.com). T&L performed the evaluation and provided a report to the Owner in February 2018.
UVA-Wise STEM-H (H=Health) Day was held on September 18, 2017 in Wise, VA. Sixth-grade girls from Wise, Lee, Scott, and Buchanan Counties as well as the City of Norton attended. Wes Sturgill and Steve Brooks (Wise) & Jennifer Moore (Bristol) conducted activities. The Southwest Virginia Higher Education Center’s STEM Day was held November 17, 2017 in Abingdon, VA and hosted sixth-grade girls from Washington, Smyth, and Russell Counties as well as the City of Bristol. UVA-Wise is in its 2nd year of STEM events, and the Higher Education Center is in its 12th year (of which T&L has attended 11 years). Activities included bridge building and a gum drop dome (above and right) to teach the girls about civil engineering and architecture.
Designed by Thompson & Litton, the New Tazewell Medical Facility broke ground in October 2017 in Tazewell, Virginia. The new $3.2 million facility is a project for Southwest Virginia Community Health Systems (SVCHS) head-quartered in Saltville, Virginia. According to an October 23, 2017 article in the Kingsport Times-News, SVCHS “pursued building the new facility to better serve patients and the medically underserved. The new site seeks to increase the scope of services to include dental, pediatric, optometry and radiology services and employ eight additional health care professionals.
The new 9,732-square-foot facility will increase exam room space from the current eight rooms to 14. ‘Being a community health center is a source of great pride for the board and staff of Southwest Virginia Community Health Systems,’ said SVCHS CEO Bryan Haynes. ‘Not only do we pride ourselves in the health given to our patients, but we also strive to be a vital part of the communities we serve.’
Funding for the expansion project includes a $1 million grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration, a $10,000 grant from The Carilion Foundation, and a one-to-one match grant up to $100,000 from the Virginia Health Care Foundation.
‘As the health care status indicates, there is a tremendous need, and Tazewell Community Health is stepping forward to make a difference in the health of this community,’ Haynes said. ‘We could not achieve this endeavor alone. We have garnered support from many levels from the federal and state govern-ments, along with regional and local foundations and individual support.’”
The project was awarded to Swope Construction Co. in November 2017.
